For Sinthia

[red_peril]

Illya was still a bit confused about the living arrangements with Sinthia and Sam. Rather than taking his frustrations out on furniture or people, he was currently pounding away at a heavy punching bag at Delflorio's. It was an old fashioned gym a couple of blocks from his apartment. Old fashioned in that there was no fancy equipment, no stair steppers, no treadmills, or ellipticals. No women looking for Zumba classes or whatever. No women were allowed. There was a boxing ring, punching bags, a couple of sets of well used weights, an ancient yet usable rowing machine. He didn't feel as if he had to impress anyone. They were used to seeing the big Russian there. He'd had a membership ever since he moved to the United States. He didn't usually draw stares at Delflorio's, unless someone new came in. He didn't have to hide the tattoos as much as if he'd gone to a fancier place. He'd been working out for over an hour now. Illya had started with warming up, jumping rope, and then working at the punching bag. Still after nearly an hour, he was pounding on the bag as if he meant to kill someone.

After his conversation with Sam and learning that the guy was roommates with his girlfriend in a studio apartment with only one bed, he was a little confused and insecure. At first, he had wondered if he had done something wrong. Perhaps this arrangement with Sam was her way of telling him to bugger off. But then Sam had said he had his own girlfriend. Still, Illya felt like he had committed some sort of faux pas.

How did that work? Did Sam sleep at his girlfriend's place? Either way, if he'd known there was a roommate involved, he probably would not have been making out on the couch in the living room with Sinthia if there was the possibility that someone might walk in on them. He was a very private person when it came to it. Especially in romantic relationships. He had tried calling Sinthia to talk about his concerns with her, but he got her answering machine. Which he didn't want to talk to. After a couple of times, he gave up. Perhaps she was busy at her job. Or maybe she did not want to talk to him.

Delflorio wandered by at one point and watched him for a few minutes. "Good form. You training for a boxing match?" The old man asked. He must have been in his nineties. His hair was white and his face showed his age. But anyone who knew the old man, knew that the owner was a former boxer who could still throw a punch. Illya answered with a curt, "No." The old man warned, "You know, kid, if you break it, you bought it." "Da. I know," he replied, continuing to wail on the bag with his fists.

Comments

[abyssum_invocat]

"Illya," she murmured, feeling an odd and distinctly uncomfortable sensation in her chest just behind her ribcage as she finally took a breath after this information. "Are you scared?"

She was. She would and could admit that; she'd grown undeniably fond of the Russian holding her hand and she didn't like the idea that he and death were going to be in the same thought. Too often faking someone's death turned into botching it and them actually dying.

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"As I said, incredibly stupid plan," the muscle in his cheek jumped as he ground his teeth. Illya let go of her hand a moment to show her how badly his was shaking. "What do you think?" he was not afraid of dying, though he certainly didn't want to. He was afraid of the uncertainty of the plan. They were making it up as they were going along.

[abyssum_invocat]

"When?" she asked, taking his hands again in hers and holding them close to her, resting her lips on his fingers.

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"This is part of problem. They will not tell me." Sinthia holding his hands calmed him a bit.

[abyssum_invocat]

She kissed his fingertips gently, lacing her hands with his. "It's okay," she said quietly. "It will be okay when everything's done. You can't think another way about it."

It wasn't that easy, she knew that, but faced with the possibility of an even less appealing alternative, a faked death might work. Nerves over being unprepared she could understand, though there was nothing she could do.

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"Da. I know," he only wished he could have more faith in his handlers. He took her hands in his, "Let's go home."

[abyssum_invocat]

"Okay," Sinthia agrees, nodding and looking down at their hands, his covering hers. She still held the key to her Audi, and the phrasing he used sinks in when she looks down and lets her head rest against his chest.

"Which home?" she asks simply, mildly amused.

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It hadn't occurred to him until she asked, that he had been thinking of her apartment. A soft smile played about his lips and he kissed her fingers. "Your place, if Sam is not expected home."

[abyssum_invocat]

"Mm-mmm," she hummed, shaking her head and letting Illya's shirt buttons catch her hair, not minding. "He won't be home tonight."

It gave her a little thrill to know that Illya thought of where they were together most often as home; it was nice to have the reminder he cared genuinely, but it also bolstered her hope that this idiotic plan he could only tell her the worst parts of might work. It had been a somewhat shocking surprise when he'd told her he was FSB, and Sinthia could honestly admit to herself that the thought of cutting ties and running had appealed to her for half a second.

"We can make dinner, watch a film maybe. Just talk." There was a lot of talking to do, that they couldn't ignore.

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"Good," Illya thought he could like Sam. Especially, if he stayed away nights. "That sounds good. It has been long time since I watched movie. It would be nice to relax. And talk." He did genuinely love her. Which was perhaps why he found the idea of them not planning this well terrify him so much. Illya wanted more than anything to come home safe to her. Then it occurred to him, that if they failed, this might be one of the last nights he had to spend with her.

[abyssum_invocat]

"I have a lot of them," she replied. "Almost too many. But I like to watch them when I feel...lost." It happened less often now, but some days she still felt, for whatever small random reason, like she was adrift on an ocean that had no shore she could find. It was like watching the world stream past her without being able to move.

"You know I love you, no matter what happens."

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He let go of her hands so that he could put his arms around her slim waist and hold her to him. "I like movies. They are a pleasant escape." Illya knew that feeling. He felt lost right at the moment. Except for being with her. She was his anchor right now.

"I know. And I love you no matter what happens." He kissed the top of her head.

[abyssum_invocat]

"Do you like Disney movies?" she asked, turning her head so she could look up at him, tall as he was and towering over her. The fairytales were nice sometimes, as far as escape went. They at least had happy endings.

"Then let's go home. And you drive. I have food we can have."

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"Disney?" he looked down at her and smiled. "You mean like cartoon? Is this negotiable?" Surely there had to be something else in her collection that would suit both their tastes. He didn't mind escapism and happy endings. He wasn't sure he was entirely interested in watching something like Snow White or Bambi though.

"Okay," he took the keys to her Audi from her.

[abyssum_invocat]

"You have problem with cartoon, tovarisch?" she asked, mimicking his voice cadence in a gentle tease. "I never liked Snow White much. It came out when I was a year old." And it hit a little close to home with the subject of prolonged unconsciousness.

"I trust you with my car."

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"No. Aren't they like for little girls? With those Disney Princesses?" Illya unlocked the car. He'd seen quite enough of those when he had to be with Ivan while he went to his boss's little granddaughters birthday parties. If he heard that stupid Frozen song one more time, he thought he would go insane.

"What does your car have to do with anything?" he slid into the driver's seat and pushed the button that adjusted it to accommodate his long legs. He knew what she as saying. "I trust you. Just don't make me watch Frozen again. I have already seen it hundred times." He started the car, "Maybe two hundred."

[abyssum_invocat]

"Not all of them," she laughed. "I have better cartoons, ones I remember." Chuck Jones was her favorite; she enjoyed the inside humor.

"I haven't seen it. I know the ice princess story well enough without the animation."

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"Let's wait until we get there and pick out movie together?" he pulled out into traffic. Sinthia's Audi was a nice car. "Do you have popcorn?"

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"I do," she answered, laying her hand over his thigh; she would have held onto the gearshift, but they were sequential paddles behind the rim of the steering wheel. "I have popcorn and beer to go with dinner," she chuckled.

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"Good," he gave her a genuine smile. They could both use a distraction from the troubles. And he wanted to spend as much pleasant time with her as possible. The drive itself was nice. The car was fun to drive and he wished the ride could last. It wasn't long before they reached her apartment building and he was lucky to find a parking space within a block of her building.

[abyssum_invocat]

Sinthia unfastened her seat belt, but didn't open the door just yet, instead shifting to look at Illya, waiting a moment before she got out.

"I got a job offer today," she said, with the tone that made it clear she was referring to the illegal kind. "It's in Ibiza. You could come with me if you want, and we could just...stay." She'd rather that than have Illya's death be less faked and more real.

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He had unfastened his seatbelt and was reaching for the door handle when she told him of the job offer. He stopped and turned towards her, "Ibiza. I have never been to Spain," he said wistfully.

"I would love to go with you..." he started, looking into her eyes. "More than anything. But I have to see this through. When do you go?"

[abyssum_invocat]

"If I take it, two weeks. It's not an...involved job, really," she says.

"I'll take you to Spain someday," she murmurs, smiling and reaching over for the door latch on her side. "It's pretty, sunny and hot and all. I assume you have a passport?"

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"I would like that," he said softly, smiling. "I have passport." Not a legal one, but he did have one. His smile widened,
"Well I never been to Spain,
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it
They don't abuse it
Never gonna lose it
I can't refuse it," he sang softly as he got out of the car.

[abyssum_invocat]

When she picked up on the song he was singing, Sinthia began to laugh, and once she came around the car she nudged him lightly with her elbow. "You're such a goofball," she laughed.

"Ibiza Town is a little more crazy than anywhere else, but it's a party town. The rest of the island is much calmer."